The Moral Gatekeeper? Moderation and Deletion of User-Generated Content in a Leading News Forum
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2018 |
Outros Autores: | , , |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v6i4.1493 |
Resumo: | Participatory formats in online journalism offer increased options for user comments to reach a mass audience, also enabling the spreading of incivility. As a result, journalists feel the need to moderate offensive user comments in order to prevent the derailment of discussion threads. However, little is known about the principles on which forum moderation is based. The current study aims to fill this void by examining 673,361 user comments (including all incoming and rejected comments) of the largest newspaper forum in Germany (Spiegel Online) in terms of the moderation decision, the topic addressed, and the use of insulting language using automated content analysis. The analyses revealed that the deletion of user comments is a frequently used moderation strategy. Overall, more than one-third of comments studied were rejected. Further, users mostly engaged with political topics. The usage of swear words was not a reason to block a comment, except when offenses were used in connection with politically sensitive topics. We discuss the results in light of the necessity for journalists to establish consistent and transparent moderation strategies. |
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The Moral Gatekeeper? Moderation and Deletion of User-Generated Content in a Leading News Forumcommunity management; computational methods; forum moderation; gatekeeping; journalism; participatory media; Spiegel Online; topic modeling; user comments; user participationParticipatory formats in online journalism offer increased options for user comments to reach a mass audience, also enabling the spreading of incivility. As a result, journalists feel the need to moderate offensive user comments in order to prevent the derailment of discussion threads. However, little is known about the principles on which forum moderation is based. The current study aims to fill this void by examining 673,361 user comments (including all incoming and rejected comments) of the largest newspaper forum in Germany (Spiegel Online) in terms of the moderation decision, the topic addressed, and the use of insulting language using automated content analysis. The analyses revealed that the deletion of user comments is a frequently used moderation strategy. Overall, more than one-third of comments studied were rejected. Further, users mostly engaged with political topics. The usage of swear words was not a reason to block a comment, except when offenses were used in connection with politically sensitive topics. We discuss the results in light of the necessity for journalists to establish consistent and transparent moderation strategies.Cogitatio2018-11-08info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v6i4.1493oai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/1493Media and Communication; Vol 6, No 4 (2018): News and Participation through and beyond Proprietary Platforms in an Age of Social Media; 58-692183-2439reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAPenghttps://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/1493https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v6i4.1493https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/1493/1493Copyright (c) 2018 Svenja Boberg, Tim Schatto-Eckrodt, Lena Frischlich, Thorsten Quandthttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessBoberg, SvenjaSchatto-Eckrodt, TimFrischlich, LenaQuandt, Thorsten2022-12-20T10:58:03Zoai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/1493Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T16:20:43.853574Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
The Moral Gatekeeper? Moderation and Deletion of User-Generated Content in a Leading News Forum |
title |
The Moral Gatekeeper? Moderation and Deletion of User-Generated Content in a Leading News Forum |
spellingShingle |
The Moral Gatekeeper? Moderation and Deletion of User-Generated Content in a Leading News Forum Boberg, Svenja community management; computational methods; forum moderation; gatekeeping; journalism; participatory media; Spiegel Online; topic modeling; user comments; user participation |
title_short |
The Moral Gatekeeper? Moderation and Deletion of User-Generated Content in a Leading News Forum |
title_full |
The Moral Gatekeeper? Moderation and Deletion of User-Generated Content in a Leading News Forum |
title_fullStr |
The Moral Gatekeeper? Moderation and Deletion of User-Generated Content in a Leading News Forum |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Moral Gatekeeper? Moderation and Deletion of User-Generated Content in a Leading News Forum |
title_sort |
The Moral Gatekeeper? Moderation and Deletion of User-Generated Content in a Leading News Forum |
author |
Boberg, Svenja |
author_facet |
Boberg, Svenja Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim Frischlich, Lena Quandt, Thorsten |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim Frischlich, Lena Quandt, Thorsten |
author2_role |
author author author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Boberg, Svenja Schatto-Eckrodt, Tim Frischlich, Lena Quandt, Thorsten |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
community management; computational methods; forum moderation; gatekeeping; journalism; participatory media; Spiegel Online; topic modeling; user comments; user participation |
topic |
community management; computational methods; forum moderation; gatekeeping; journalism; participatory media; Spiegel Online; topic modeling; user comments; user participation |
description |
Participatory formats in online journalism offer increased options for user comments to reach a mass audience, also enabling the spreading of incivility. As a result, journalists feel the need to moderate offensive user comments in order to prevent the derailment of discussion threads. However, little is known about the principles on which forum moderation is based. The current study aims to fill this void by examining 673,361 user comments (including all incoming and rejected comments) of the largest newspaper forum in Germany (Spiegel Online) in terms of the moderation decision, the topic addressed, and the use of insulting language using automated content analysis. The analyses revealed that the deletion of user comments is a frequently used moderation strategy. Overall, more than one-third of comments studied were rejected. Further, users mostly engaged with political topics. The usage of swear words was not a reason to block a comment, except when offenses were used in connection with politically sensitive topics. We discuss the results in light of the necessity for journalists to establish consistent and transparent moderation strategies. |
publishDate |
2018 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2018-11-08 |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v6i4.1493 oai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/1493 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v6i4.1493 |
identifier_str_mv |
oai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/1493 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/1493 https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v6i4.1493 https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/1493/1493 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2018 Svenja Boberg, Tim Schatto-Eckrodt, Lena Frischlich, Thorsten Quandt http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
rights_invalid_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2018 Svenja Boberg, Tim Schatto-Eckrodt, Lena Frischlich, Thorsten Quandt http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Cogitatio |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Cogitatio |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
Media and Communication; Vol 6, No 4 (2018): News and Participation through and beyond Proprietary Platforms in an Age of Social Media; 58-69 2183-2439 reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação instacron:RCAAP |
instname_str |
Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
instacron_str |
RCAAP |
institution |
RCAAP |
reponame_str |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
collection |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
repository.name.fl_str_mv |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
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1799130655184912384 |